The cemetery on ul. Bracka and ul. Zmienna, the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe was created in 1892. The Beit Tahara (Funeral Home) was completed in 1898. In 1900 houses for cemetery workers and a wooden synagogue were built. The cemetery was severely damaged during WWI and many buildings destroyed. Its renovation was supported financially by factory owners. By 1925, the original wooden fence surrounding the cemetery was replaced by the red brick wall that still stands today. All tombstones in the cemetery face east. In the 19th century, many were colorfully painted, traces of which can still be seen.

After the German occupation in 1939, the cemetery became part of the eastern section of the enclosed Lodz ghetto. Between 1940 and 1944, approximately 43,000 burials took place in the spare part of the cemetery that became known as the Pole Gettowe or Ghetto Field. In 1956, a monument in memory of the victims of the Lodz ghetto was erected at the cemetery.

The cemetery contains approximately 180,000 graves, marked by approximately 65,000 tombstones, ohels and mausoleums, many of which are of architectural significance.